University of Virginia Library

Court Denies R-MW C Student's
Petition To Register In Virginia

By SANDRA DIVINE

A Connecticut freshman
attending Randolph-Macon
Women's College will not be
allowed to register to vote in
Virginia.

U.S. District Court Judge
James C. Turk Thursday
refused to order the Lynchburg
voting registrar to enter Susan
S. Taraskewich's name on the
voting books.

Edythe M. Geipel, the
Lynchburg registrar, said she
rejected the student's
application on Sept. 14
because the girl was a legal
resident of Connecticut, and
not simply because she lived in
a dormitory on the R-M WC
campus.

By denying Miss
Taraskewich's federal court
suit which sought to force her
registration, Judge Turk upheld
an earlier denial of a similar
request by Miss Taraskewich
that had been released by
Judge O. Raymond Cundiff of
the Lynchburg Corporation
Court on Oct. 9.

In the opinion given with his
ruling, Judge Turk noted that
the plaintiff did not challenge
the constitutionality of the
state law used by the registrar
to determine if the Virginia
residency requirement had
been met.

Secondly, he pointed out
that there was no evidence that
Mrs. Geipel had not applied
standards different than those
applied to other prospective
voters in determining eligibility
for registration.

Finally, Miss Taraskewich
had not exhausted her
remedies to the original
decision in the state courts,
since she had not completed
her appeal to the Virginia
Supreme Court.

Judge Turk said the woman
lived with her parents in
Connecticut prior to enrolling
at the college, receives financial
support from them, has a
Connecticut driver's license,
and uses her parents' address as
her home address.